A Steve Jobs perseverance story and the first computer

[chuckchuckit]

During the summer of 1970 we moved from the midwest to Los Altos, California before my senior year in high school. I graduated from Homestead High School in Cupertino in 1971. During my senior year I was in one of the electronics classes there. The electronics class teacher’s name was Mr. McCullom. We were learning to wire simple analog circuits on breadboards. We each stored our bread boards that we were working on in different drawers there in the electronics class.
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One day another student in my class said to me, “Take a look at this.” And he opens up one of the drawers and pulls out someone else’s bread board. He said something to the effect of “Look what they are doing in the other class. Isn’t this something?” Most of our bread boards had a few resistors, a light bulb, some capacitors maybe. But this board he pulled out was covered with weird looking components I had never seen before. Likely they were some of the early IC chips. And there were so many wires on the back of the board that it looked like a bird’s nest. This student was very serious about trying to explain to me what the students in the other class were doing with this board because he was excited about it. But I did not even know what those weird components were or what they did. I was a licensed Ham Radio operator and had built my own Heathkit transmitter so I knew a little bit about electronics. But at the time I was more interested in motorcycles and running on the track team at Homestead High, than circuit design. So it just kind of went over my head.
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Later on that same excited kid in my electronics class asked our teacher during class what he thought about what those kids in the other class were doing with that bread board. And the teacher’s answer seemed really odd at the time. The reason I still remember what he said to this day, is because the teacher who I liked and was usually supportive and calm, was rather animated as he was practically yelling:”I got a couple of these hair brained kids in that other class who have all these wild ideas about how they are going to do this, and about how they are going to do that. I keep telling them, you can’t do that with electronics! Electronics is not meant for that!”
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…say what?
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Unfortunately for the rest of the year, that put an end to any further class discussion (excited or otherwise) about those hair brained kids with wild ideas about what they were trying to do with that bread board. One of those kids working on that bird’s nest breadboard with the weird components was Steve Jobs, who graduated Homestead High School in 1972 the year after I did. They were making the start of the first computer while going to Homestead. Perhaps they were building it at home and brought it to school to work on there too. Steve lived in Los Altos also, but I don’t recall ever meeting him during my year there. Since I still live a few miles from the school, yesterday my wife and I went there so we could find that electronics room again. It is building F as it is marked now, and the room is located on the Homestead Road side of the building, nearest the half circle driveway.

The beginnings of that first computer they were working on was a board maybe 6” to 8” per side as I remember it, with all those wires bulging out of the bottom. I don’t know who else if anyone at Homestead was working on it with him, as I think Wozniak graduated a few years earlier. But Steve Jobs met Wozniak right around that time as they have said they developed that first computer in Steve Job’s family garage in Los Altos.
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In 2005 Steve Jobs gave the Stanford University graduating class Commencement Address where he talked about “Don’t let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice.” Perhaps some of that had come from “opinions” he received during his days at Homestead. During his talk at Stanford Steve Jobs also talked about death and what is important.
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My wife and I try every morning to do our readings and discussions together before starting our day. Yesterday we then talked much about Steve Jobs. About all he had done with his applauded accomplishments using his perseverance that I personally can appreciate. Yet we had a sadness for his soul. With all his effort, time, perseverance and the use of his gifted talents, we wondered which kingdom did he use it all for? In light of eternity, a half a century or so is not much. Later yesterday my wife showed me Psalm 49:16-20 she coincidently found pertaining to our discussion.
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We don’t know what may have transpired for him during his last days, concerning the free gift.
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I never met Steve at Homestead High, but perhaps with the finality of eternity being what it is, I hope I will. But that shall not be decided by me.
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Chuck

 

[chuckchuckit]

According to pages 24-25 in the Steve Jobs book by Walter Isaacson that just came out last Monday, it looks like that first computer board that I saw in my Homestead High 1971 electronics class, was the “Cream Soda Computer” built by Wozniak and Bill Fernandez. Per Wozniak in the book: “It was basically a calculator capable of multiplying numbers entered by a set of switches and displayed the results in binary code with little lights.” They built it in Fernandez’s garage and after the board was done Fernandez introduced Wozniak to Steve Jobs there at Homestead. They were both Juniors there during 1970 -1971 school year.
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I so vividly remember that board that if I was in that classroom today I think I could still pick out the drawer they had it in (if the cabinets are still there). I remember some of those pranks they did there too. And hearing about the laser light shows Steve Jobs was doing at Homestead from my neighbor who was involved with him putting on the laser light and music shows at Homestead. I played trumpet in the school band, but somehow missed out on those Dylan laser light music shows.

Even though I was not initially very interested in what that computer board was, I remember pondering it due to that other student being so excited about what they were doing. My curiosity about it had started. The book does mention the teacher’s “furiousness…” that he had as the book quotes the teacher himself. Perhaps his pride in analog knowledge, but lack of digital knowledge factored in also along with his ethics concerns. The “furiousness” really did stop others from showing any more interest (in class anyway), in what Jobs, Wozniak and Fernandez were doing. As for me, teachers are often looked up to when I was young and even still at my age when their knowledge and assistance is being considered. I did not learn any digital electronics from that teacher (I did learn some analog circuits). Another thing I hope that teacher did help me learn was, when in any type of assisting mode I hope I will always remember to apply kindness where others may ponder.
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Yet ethics, truth and fact must prevail. To do otherwise could be a most unkind act of all, concerning the invisible war none are exempt from, including Steve Jobs. Proof being, it is quite interesting how any such pondering or investigating will undoubtedly up the ante from the adversary. Most often to a more “recognizable” level of “deception and diversion”, as the cover up of truth starts coming to light.